I am a senior financial services executive with 20 years experience leading diverse teams, from legal and compliance to communications, human resources and industry relations. I spent much of my career at a mid-sized life insurance company, where I supported the board of directors as secretary, oversaw the legal and compliance teams, and led corporate communications and human resources. For the past six years, I have been leading the legal and policy functions at Canada's national payments system operator (Payments Canada), including acting as secretary to the board of directors.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my candidacy for the CIRA Board of Directors.

I fell in love with the Internet while attending University where I got access to my first dial up connection. It amazed me that I could interact and share information on projects I was working on with people around the world and help them with projects they were working on. Back then 2400bps was fast and the web was barely understood. I had fallen in love with the Internet and wanted to help connect people to it.

When this opportunity came to my attention I was overcome by a sense of purpose. Like many, my passion with computers and the internet began as a child. Unlike many, I then followed a technical path through the military where I was involved for many years in proving interoperability between discrete platforms and technologies. Today, as a lawyer, I am actively involved in web 3.0 as a principle at the BanklessDAO legal guild and LexDAO, where we build legal narratives around decentralized governance models to support community blockchain ventures, privacy and data self-sovereignty.

I am excited to put my name forward for a board seat at CIRA. I consider myself a passionate cyber security strategist, and have the relevant skills, knowledge and experiences to enhance the CIRA board. From financial literacy to not-for-profit board best practices as well as cyber security and telecom sector experience, I will bring my unique blend to the tasks at hand. I continue to strive to evolve my expertise, and non-profit-boards is no exception, having sat for the IDC NFP program, dedicated to better understanding the inner workings and concerns for board members.

Dear Nomination Committee:

I‘m a CIRA member and Canadian Shield user. I'm also an experienced Board director and executive, and ICD.D designation holder passionate about technology and serving in the public interest. I hope to guide CIRA in its role as steward for the .CA domain and ensure its ongoing provision of high-quality registry services (Anycast DNS and City gTLDs) and cybersecurity services (DNS Firewall, Anycast DNS, Canadian Shield...). I also support CIRA's engagement in community activities related to the internet through grants, initiatives, and projects.

I am eager to contribute to CIRA's success by applying my background as a technology entrepreneur, CEO, lawyer and experienced board member to its governance challenges. I am passionate about the future of technology and innovation in Canada. The internet is central to so much of what we do now and where we can go in the future. CIRA has a vital role to play in how it develops in Canada, and to ensuring a trusted network for all Canadians. I want to help. My career began with 10 years as a partner in a major law firm (Fasken). Technology issues were an important part of my practice.

From .ca registry to the world's first deployment of a national public DNS over HTTPS (DoH) service, CIRA has been at the forefront of ensuring a reliable, secure and performing internet for Canadians.  Over the years, .ca has developed a reputation as a secure and trustworthy domain – not a small feat.  However this made it desirable to  cyber criminals across the world as a cover for their activities.  Development of DNS firewall, investment in new research and development, streamlining the .ca registry – all of this is very exciting and relevant to pertinent needs of Canadian organizatio

I bring 30 years of relevant experience in organizational leadership, global Internet of Things (IoT) innovation and management, sustainable infrastructure, and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG). I hope to use my business and technical background plus my internet user experience beginning in 1991 as an early adopter of CA*net to strengthen the Board in guiding CIRA to provide a trusted internet for Canadians and to help the organization evolve to accommodate emerging applications.

The Internet Revolution is far from over. Responsible Internet Governance is a critical job that requires soliciting input from a diverse set of stakeholders across Canada. CIRA has a unique role in our emerging digital society. It's important for CIRA to remain connected with small businesses and individual domain name owners who want a safe, secure Internet that benefits all Canadians.

I believe it's vitally important for small businesses and individual domain name owners to be faithfully represented when forming policies which govern the Canadian Internet.

I am a current board member of CIRA, for 3 years. I bring the perspectives of technology, networking, Internet, business, entrepreneur, cybersecurity.

I have spent the last 30 years working on bringing networking and cyber-security companies from inception to market, for Canada, for Global. This included running one (Sandvine) for more than 10 years as a TSX-traded public company.

I have participated in Internet governance including IETF and with regulators (CRTC, FCC, EU, BITAG).

I was previously on the board for three terms. My last term ended in September 2017. I learned a lot during my time on the board. CIRA as an organization had tremendous growth and change during that time. The Community Investment Program was instituted. The board changed from a hands-on board to a more strategic board. CIRA grew from 1 million domains under management to over 2.5 million domains. I like to think the board was partly responsible for implementing policies to achieve these milestones. Stepping back for a few years has broadened my perspective. The domain industry has matured.

Technologist in electrical engineering (automation), I have been practicing in private practice for twentyfive years in the field of strategic information and technological and business innovation as a technology intelligence consultant and in knowledge management mainly with Quebec manufacturing companies.

As a dependable, imaginative communications practitioner with 12 years of professional experience, I work with organizations and individuals to shape their unique stories, protect reputations, foster genuine relationships with stakeholders, and build trust.

Prior to opening an independent practice in February 2020, with the help of CIRA, I was an associate partner at a B2B communications firm where I led and collaborated on business development, budgeting, hiring, and the establishment and realization of the goals and priorities of the firm and its clients.

As a director, I will contribute my extensive communications and governance experience to aid CIRA in its aim to be champions of the internet for all Canadians. I was inspired to submit my nomination after attending a CIRA focus group for business owners with a .ca domain registration. Through that experience I learned more about the vast offerings of CIRA and decided to put forth my nomination. CIRA provides an amazing array of increasingly important products and services for Canadians and I would like to support those efforts as a board member.